Denali Advisors LLC Has $8.69 Million Stock Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 113.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,321 shares during the period. Mercury General makes up approximately 0.9% of Denali Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $8,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $479,604,000. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in Mercury General by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,920,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Mercury General by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,492,000 after purchasing an additional 46,559 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 408,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,387,000 after purchasing an additional 17,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mercury General by 1.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 346,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,917,000 after purchasing an additional 6,314 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Price Performance

Mercury General stock opened at $104.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.38 and its 200 day moving average is $98.11. Mercury General Corporation has a one year low of $73.73 and a one year high of $113.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 31.98%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post 12.75 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 7.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.